That’s according to the latest report from the National Milk Producers Federation. Peter Vitaliano, vice president of Economic Policy and Market Research for the National Milk Producer Federation, says things are improving a little bit when it comes to dairy demand but that they are still falling short of the milk production rate increase.
“Retail is not quite as strong as it was in the earlier months of the pandemic, where everybody stocked up buying through supermarkets, but that’s still where a lot of the increase is coming from,” Vitaliano says. “We need one more month of data, but it’s almost certain that last year will be a record year of dairy exports from the United States in terms of total volume of product. Food service is going to continue to be depressed, but it may not [quite as depressed] going forward this year as it was sort of at the height [of the pandemic.] We actually had two big waves of the pandemic shutdown las spring and then again last fall.”
But a recent short rally in the dairy market is a welcome sign. Experts say it added significant value to several months.
March rose 60 cents last week with April and May reaching the limit of 75 cents per cwt. Months beyond that were up 10 to 50 cents per cwt. With the move, March closed north of $16.50 while April and beyond had a $17 handle in front of its price. CME spot dairy products also ended with mainly stronger results.
